ABCD’s Fixed Opening Hours

For a long time we had been having no fixed schedule. We are never “open”, nor “close”. Now we are thinking to change this! But first, let us tell you why all this time we had been “random”, and our doors were mostly rolled down during the weekdays.

Because we are not a coffee shop. We are not a café. Referring to our own About Us page: we are a playground, a workshop, a kiosk, and a pop-up coffee bar. (By “pop-up” we mean “not permanent” in terms of timing.)

In ABCD we learn the A-B-C of coffee through many ways. We pop-up our coffee bar almost every weekend not to sell anything, let alone cute cups of cappuccino. #ngopidipasar is all about sharing and appreciation. We want to give true coffee lovers a chance to try excellent coffee beans that are usually not available in coffee shops in the city. We want tell the stories of those coffee beans. We want to share tales about Gesha, El Injerto, or even some Fine Robusta.

And, we wish you could give some appreciation.

The “appreciation” that we are talking about is more than just how much you put in our Red Appreciation Jar. Your appreciation should go for the coffee itself. The coffee as in the big, big world of coffee.

Through our #ngopidipasar pop-ups we hope you get to be introduced to the many, many kinds of coffee. We hope you could have a true “coffee experience”, not “café experience”. (There is no AC, there is no sofa, there is Instagrammable corners, sometimes there is no pretty latte arts. There is nothing but the coffee itself to experience.)

And, we can’t do it every day. We do not want to do it every day even if we can. Why? We give you two reasons.

First, there are enough great coffee shops in town where talented baristas work their magic with specialty coffee beans. For so long they have been mistaken as waiters. Many times they have to spend a whole day making Iced Lychee Tea for customers who use one single glass of it as a reason to sit for hours and use the free wifi to update their Facebooks. How often you see customers entering a posh coffee shop, and the first thing they ask is, “What’s the wifi password here?”

Please, go to those coffee shops, and make a change! Build a communication with the baristas. Allow them to use their magnificent talent to brew you some great caffeine fix. Challenge them to raise their standards. Ask them about where did the beans come from, the roasting profile, the tasting notes, etc. Stop asking “what’s in the menu?”, and start asking “what is the best cup that you can offer me today?”

Our baristas improve themselves when customers challenge, respect, and appreciate their talents properly. In fact, be more than a customer. Be a friend who support and encourage them. You know what? Indonesia is among the biggest coffee producers in the world, yet none of our baristas have ever made it to the Final Round in World Barista Champioship. Not even Top Twenty! You can make a change by being a respecting customer who appreciates and supports them!

Second reason of why we cannot pop-up our coffee bar every day is very practical: the beans. How could we get super premium and expensive beans every day? Or, do you want us to serve the same coffee that coffee shops and cafes in Jakarta have? Then, why bother coming to our place where there is no AC, comfortable couches, and wifi? And, how can it be fair to the coffee shops when we serve the same coffee with them, but with no fixed price?

That’s why our main objectives remain the same: sharing, and appreciating.

We share through our ABCD School of Coffee. We share through our #ngopidipasar pop-up coffee bar events. We appreciate great coffee. We appreciate those who come to us as friends, not demanding customers.

Phat Uncle Hendri Kurniawan says, “Coffee unites people, but the business sometimes tear them apart.” That’s why we want to keep ABCD as a fun playground, and not a place with opening and closing hours.

Yes, we were thinking to change this. But, we decided not to.

 

We always inform our next #ngopidipasar pop-up event in our Instagram account @abcd_coffee. Meanwhile, programs of ABCD School of Coffee can be seen HERE. For updated schedule of ABCD School of Coffee and the Registration Form, please email to abcd.courses@gmail.com. 

The Ever Expanding Family of ABCD School of Coffee

Phat Uncle Hendri Kurniawan monitors Otniel as he is learning to pull a shot of espresso in our ABCD Class.

Our tiny place – a mere 2×6 sqm. hole-in-the-wall – is expanding. Not (yet) physically – as kiosks in the first floor of Pasar Santa are all occupied now! – but rather socially. It is our ABCD School of Coffee that makes it possible to happen.

We are happy to see a great respond to our classes. Our ABCD Class – the one that shares all things coffee from zero to cappuccino – is on high demand. We need to hold additional classes almost every week. Hendri “Phat Uncle” Kurniawan happily spends his weekdays in the classroom from nine in the morning until ten in the evening, sharing his skills and knowledges to enthusiasts. Adding to that, Angry Brewer Ve Handojo also had been given a chance by Club Kembang to share his passion for coffee in a class filled with a dozen coffee lovers.

The intimate scale of our classes – a maximum of three participants! – creates a huge, casual space for discussion.

Who actually come to join our classes?

Some of them want to be baristas. Some of them are café owners or operators. Some of them plan to start a coffee shop. Yet, so many of them actually sign up to merely learn about coffee without business agenda. There was even a self-proclaimed non-coffee drinker who attended the class just for curiosity’s sake! Yet, she ended up drinking lots of coffee, became our coffee smuggler, and now is laying her eyes for Kees van der Westen’s Speedster!

Among our greatest joys is witnessing the facial expression of those who just sipped their very first espresso that they made themselves!

Of course, we are happy to see our clases fully booked until two months ahead. But the happiness comes not from the generated revenue. We are more excited to meet new people in an intimate class. People with the same cravings and passions with us. People with whom we can actually connect. And, our small scale classes allow the connection to go deeper. At the end of the day, there are no students, there are no teachers in our classes. We all have become an extended family.

Cas, Rey, and Belinda. They are not our students. They are a part of our extended family!

In this hole-in-the-wall passions are collided, ideas are exploded, and new possibilities are explored way beyond the brick walls. We are amazed how small scale classes can actually make this happen! Expect new things coming from our humble kiosk in the near future! Talented baristas are being born, new ventures are on the way, and more, and more dots will be connected.

Cecile – The Barista With Attitude! – happily supervises Stef and Sonia who were interning in our pop-up event.

Otniel and Richard interning in one of our pop-up events. They worked together in our manual brew station.

So, whoever you are – as long as you have unquenchable thirst over more, and more caffeine! – we invite you to join ABCD School of Coffee. We invite you to discover more than just the knowledge about coffee. We invite you to learn more than just making espresso and latte. We invite you to think about more than just opening coffee shops or other commercial ventures.

We invite you to find a family of your choice. Phat Uncle himself always says: Coffee is a medium through which we can do bigger things. Let’s learn together to use coffee to make more than just a cup of fancy drink.

If you need to know further information on ABCD School of Coffee please send an email to abcd.courses@gmail.com